Yahoo! Goes Password-less

Yahoo! has fired another shot across the bow in the battle against the password.

The company has launched Yahoo Account Key, which allows users to securely sign into their Yahoo accounts using a mobile phone. Each time a user attempts to sign in, they will receive a push notification on their mobile phone to approve. Once the user taps it, he or she will be signed in immediately.

Account Key works for Yahoo Finance, Fantasy, Mail, Messenger and Sports for iOS or Android.

“It’s secure, and there’s no need to remember a difficult password,” said Lovlesh Chhabra, Yahoo! product manager, in a blog. “Passwords can be a hassle—they’re easy to lose track of and forget, or they are weak passwords that are vulnerable to hacking. At Yahoo, we are moving fast in our mission to ‘kill the password’ and make it easier for users to sign in without sacrificing security.”

To set up Account Key, users first sign in to any Yahoo mobile app. In the Yahoo Mail app on Android, they would tap the top left menu icon. On iPhone, they would tap the profile icon in the top right of the navigation bar. Next, they tap the key icon next to their account, tap the “Set up Account Key” button and then simply follow the steps

In Yahoo Sports, Finance or other Yahoo apps, users should tap the top left menu icon first. On Android, they should then tap the key icon next to their account. On iPhone, they select Account Key from the list (under the Tools section). From there, they just tap “Set up Account Key” and follow the steps.

From there, the next time the user signs in from your desktop, Yahoo! will send out a push notification to the mobile app. Simply open it and tap “Yes” to approve and sign in. Make sure not to sign out of your app or turn off notifications, as this will prevent you from receiving your Account Key push notification.